


weekends

by randomprose



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, Angst with a Happy Ending, Domestic Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Future Fic, Light Angst, M/M, Post-Canon, because lbr this is me and i can't write krtsk w/o angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-16
Updated: 2018-05-16
Packaged: 2019-05-07 18:05:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14676531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/randomprose/pseuds/randomprose
Summary: only on weekends, I have no room for anyone else, but you





	weekends

**Author's Note:**

> listen to [weekends by Amy Shark](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZXWiEVnvP8) for maximum feels

 

I.

Kei wakes up in an unfamiliar bed with unfamiliar sheets.

It’s bigger and a little softer than his own and he doesn’t remember ever having red sheets. He wakes up in an unfamiliar room with an unfamiliar scent—the distinct smell of a cologne, a different brand of detergent from what his mother uses—and yet somehow everything is anything but unfamiliar.

It doesn’t make sense, he knows, but in his sleep-addled state, he can’t quite pinpoint which is which.

The sound of a swivel chair and the click-clacking of fingers against a laptop sounded behind him and Kei pushes himself to lie on his back.

Tetsurou is on his desk typing away on his laptop, a look of concentration on his face. He stops when he hears the sheets shift and swivels around just in time to meet Kei’s sigh with a smile.

“Good nap?”

“It would have been if you’d just let me have my meds. I’m still sore from that last match.”

“You shouldn’t be too reliant on painkillers, Tsukki. Plus, you can hardly call them your meds if they’re not prescribed to you. And no,” Tetsurou says before Kei could even get a word out, “self-medication is not the same as an official prescription from a doctor.”

Kei rolls his eyes and mumbles, “Whatever” as he buries his face in Tetsurou’s pillow. They smell like lavender and the shampoo he uses.

“Try to sleep more. I won’t be done for another hour but after that, we can go get dinner.”

“How can anyone sleep in this godforsaken heat.” Kei really hates the Tokyo heat. “I think your AC is broken.”

“It works just fine. You’re just cranky.”

“It’s because of the heat.”

“No, you’re cranky at least 87% of the time.”

“And what about the other 13%?”

“That’s when you’re actually a decent person, but it’s very rare. Like rains in the desert.”

“Or like the only times your AC actually works and your dorm doesn’t feel like Satan’s armpits.”

Tetsurou snorts at that and it morphs into a chuckle as he swivels back to face his laptop.

“Sleep it off. I’ll wake you up as soon as I’m done.”

Kei turns his head to the side to catch a glimpse of the upturn of Tetsurou’s lips from his earlier quip. He smiles and buries half of his face back on Tetsurou’s pillow letting the familiar scent of lavender and generic drugstore shampoo lull him back to sleep.

 

 

 

* * *

 

  

 

II.

At first, the visits were at random. Sometimes Kei will go down to Tokyo to visit Akiteru and then he’d do a little detour and visit Tetsurou as well. And then sometimes Kuroo will come up to Miyagi with Kenma whenever the latter visits Hinata and make a little detour himself to visit Kei. The visits kind of stuck and by the time Kei’s second year in high school rolled around it already became a weekly thing.

Sometimes Hinata and some others come with Kei and other times Bokuto, Akaashi, and Kenma (and on one occasion, Lev) come with Tetsurou but most of the time it’s just the two of them visiting each other. It became more of a routine when they introduced each other to their families. Tetsurou’s mother immediately took a liking to Kei (“You sure like the quiet ones, huh?”) and Kei’s mother was pleasantly surprised to know her son has other friends other than his teammates and was extremely charmed by Tetsurou (“He’s a charming kid, that one. Good job, Kei.”)

The visits are nothing special. Just them watching TV or playing video games, sometimes doing homework together, lounging around each other’s houses, and sometimes they do some training, but mostly it’s just them hanging out and enjoying each other’s company and being little shits to each other.

At first, they do alternate weekends. If this week Kei comes down to Tokyo, then next week it’s Tetsurou’s turn to come up to Miyagi. When Tetsurou started getting busier in college, it became harder for him to come up to Miyagi. So these days it’s Kei who’s more often than not in Tokyo on weekends.

Tetsurou says it’s unfair to Kei but Kei doesn’t really mind. It’s not like he’s got anything better to do on weekends. His weekends are already reserved for Tetsurou anyway.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

III.

“It’ll be fun.” Tetsurou crows as he tries (keyword: try) fixing his hair in front of his bathroom mirror. “The dude throwing the party is really chill. I promise it won’t be too crowded. Just a couple of friends.”

“That’s what you said about the last four parties you brought me.”

“Oh, c’mon, Tsukki! Live a little. In a couple of months, you’ll be going to your own college parties.”

Kei scoffs from where he’s standing in front of Tetsurou’s wardrobe. He didn’t bring that much change of clothes and the ones he did weren’t ‘college party appropriate’ as Tetsurou dubbed, which Kei thinks is totally stupid. It’s not like college students dress in anything fancy other than three-day old shirt, plaids, hoodies, and faded ripped jeans. He doesn’t put up much fight, though, and just picks a plain navy blue button up to go with his dark skinnies. He leaves the top two buttons open and rolls the sleeves up to his elbows. It’s a little loose on the shoulders but the fit is nice. It must be one of Tetsurou’s smaller ones. Kei makes sure to tease him about putting on weight.

Tetsurou is taking too long in the bathroom. The frustrated groans indicate that he’s getting annoyed by his hair. Kei doesn’t understand why he still bothers with that mess but he takes pity on him and wanders to the bathroom to help speed things up.

“Here, let me,” Tsukishima says taking the container of wax from Tetsurou and dipping a hand in before carding it through the latter’s hair. “I don’t know why you still try. It’s gonna go back to its usual look in about two hours anyway.”

“It’s a matter of principle, Tsukki.” Tetsurou counters as he lets Kei style his hair. He closes his eyes, the feeling of Kei’s long fingers massaging through his scalp lulling him into a sense of calm. “It’s important to always try to look your best.”

“Sure.”

“Here. I’ll do yours.”

“Wha—Kuroo, no.”

“Just stay still. I know what I’m doing.”

“I’m sure you do.”

“Shut up. I know how to style hair that isn’t mine. Ironic, I know, but just trust me okay?”

Tetsurou dips his hand in the wax and cards his fingers through Kei’s neatly arranged blonde locks. He makes sure to run his fingers this way and that to create an artfully disheveled look, even curling his fingers at some of the ends.

They look silly like that, standing in Tetsurou’s cramped bathroom fixing each other’s hair but neither seems to mind.

They finished around the same time as the other and step back to survey each other’s work. Kei nods once, satisfied that he’s managed to tame Tetsurou’s hair before turning to the sink to wash his hands and put on his contacts.

Meanwhile, Tetsurou feels out of depth. Kei with his hair mussed up like that looks really good, but then he went on to remove his glasses and put on some contacts. Tetsurou couldn’t help but stare and feel like all of this is a bad idea.

Not because Kei doesn’t look good but because Kei looks _too good._

“Contacts?”

“Yeah. Last time some drunk guy bumped into me and almost knocked my glasses off. Don’t want to risk it.”

Kei doesn’t know why he’s risking it anyway by agreeing to go with Tetsurou to another party but that’s a thought for another day.

Tetsurou has half a mind to just call it all off and just stay the night in when Kei blinked up at him through his lashes as his eyes adjust to the contacts. When the younger raised an eyebrow as a silent question to his staring, Tetsurou could only cough and say, “You look good.”

“Thanks. You don’t look bad yourself.” Kei parries back easily and Tetsurou thinks life is so unfair.

They stumbled back to Tetsurou’s dorm in the wee hours of the morning, swaying and teetering dangerously over the edge every time they try to walk on their own. Tetsurou, being the soberer of the two, wrestles with his keys and drags Kei inside before the younger decides the dorm’s hallway is as good a place to crash as any. They fall on Tetsurou’s bed just as they’d undress to their boxers and Tetsurou, summoning the last dredges of his sobriety, had placed aspirins and two water bottles by the bedside table.

Later, Tetsurou wakes up with an arm draped over Kei’s slim waist as the latter snuggles closely to his chest. He vaguely thinks he could get used to waking up like this every morning before succumbing back to sleep. Much later, they wake up with a groan and Kei cursing to high heavens his mother of a hangover while Tetsurou rushes to the bathroom to empty out his stomach of all the tequila he’s consumed last night.

And much, much later, after Tetsurou’s done hurling all the contents of his stomach and has effectively stopped Kei from downing all the aspirins he has on his medicine cabinet, they sit miserably hungover in front of each other in their favorite diner, each nursing a mug of black coffee.

In the midst of eating their shared large greasy breakfast in companionable silence, a girl comes up to their table to greet Tetsurou, obviously oblivious to his current state of immensely suffering from the biggest hangover of his life up to date and obviously wanting to chat. She either has never known what a hung over in her whole life is or is just really fucking oblivious to the way Tetsurou is smiling at her tightly and responding in quipped one-word answers. She doesn’t even seem to realize Tetsurou is with company and somehow that irks him more especially when Kei is using the distraction to pilfer more bacon to his plate and sequester the remaining sausages.

Kei, on the other hand, just ignores the exchange. This isn’t something new after all. People come up to Tetsurou all the time and he’s used to being ignored by them. He tells himself he’s fine with it even when it’s taking him all his remaining properly functioning faculties from wielding his chopsticks like a weapon against the girl currently chatting Tetsurou up. He tells himself it’s just the hangover and the headache from the girl’s soft voice and Tetsurou’s deep baritone. This isn’t something new after all.

What is new is the way Tetsurou cuts off the girl mid-sentence.

“Yeah. Sorry. I’m with someone and we’re in the middle of breakfast. Can you please leave?”

Kei watches as the girl reddens and she finally takes notice of him. He quirks an eyebrow at her and she looks even more mortified as she stutters an apology and quickly bows out. He then turns to Tetsurou who’s complaining about the sudden disappearance of the sausages, the girl already out of his mind and totally unaffected of what just happened. Kei has never seen Tetsurou be that blatantly rude to anyone, especially a girl, and so he couldn’t help but ask.

“What was that all about?”

“What?” Tetsurou asked, mouth stuffed with eggs.

“You were being rude to her.”

“I said I was sorry, didn’t I? If anything, _she_ was being rude. Didn’t she see I’m with someone? She didn’t even say hi to you.”

“She doesn’t know me.”

“Still. It’s common courtesy.” He reaches over to steal some of Kei’s bacon before the latter just slid his plate to him. “Also, I’m hungover.”

“Yeah and so am I. Yet you don’t see me telling people to fuck off.”

“I didn’t tell her to fuck off. I politely asked her to leave.”

“Same difference, really.”

Tetsurou sighs and sends him an exasperated look. Kei just shrugs, lifts his mug of coffee to hide the amused smile on his lips as the elder sighs in defeat. It’s always a funny thing seeing a riled up Tetsurou as he gets the last word in.

But then Tetsurou says something else, subtle and almost underhanded by the way he gets the last say even without actually meaning to.

“It’s a weekend, Kei. My weekends are reserved for you.”

Kei blinks, slightly caught off guard with Tetsurou’s words. When he recovers, he reaches over to wipe the side of Tetsurou’s face with a napkin, sighing and mumbling about how he’s such a messy eater.

 

 

 

* * *

  

 

 

IV.

Sometimes Tetsurou will bring Kei to parties.

It’s easy and no one ever asks too many questions because, other than the fact that all anybody really cares about in parties is to get shitfaced and maybe get laid at the end of the night, Kei fits right in with the crowd of college kids because he’s big and tall and has a certain aura.

“What aura?” Kei asks the first time Tetsurou brought him to a party and he’d ask if it’s going to be okay.

“You know, an aura. Mature,” Tetsurou says shrugging. “Like—like old enough to be out of high school and just old enough to be in college. Also, you’re gigantic.”

Kei isn’t too crazy about them but it’s something to do with Tetsurou. Would he rather stay at Tetsurou’s dorm and watch movies, or play video games, or just talk? Certainly. Absolutely. But this is something to do with Tetsurou and so this is okay too. Anything to do with Tetsurou is okay for Kei. Especially when they’re playing beer pong and Tetsurou looks at him like ‘did you see that??’ every time he gets a ball in or just whenever he did good at a drinking game or a challenge and he whips around to Kei to show off, eyes wide and a gigantic smile on his face that only widens whenever he sees Kei in the crowd cheering him on.

Kei also doesn’t mind going to parties because then he can watch Tetrurou dance around like _this_ , all gyrating hips and sensual body rolls. He also doesn’t mind it when he pulls him to dance with him and Kei gets to snake his arms around Tetsurou with a close-up view of his face as they grind on each other on the dance floor.

What Kei doesn’t like is the people, girls and some guys, who hang around Tetsurou in parties. Or not even the parties. Sometimes they’d be hanging out, just the two of them walking around or doing whatever, and someone who knows Tetsurou from campus or somewhere will come up to chat. Act like Tsukishima isn’t even there and just focus on Tetsurou. And Kei knows their motive.

He’s not the jealous type, really, he isn’t. Kei knows Tetsurou is a fairly likable guy and is quite popular in the university. Tetsurou’s charming. He’s kind, polite, has a good sense of humor, is an all-around nice guy, and not at all bad to look at. Kei knows that, knows the effect Tetsurou has on people. Tetsurou knows this too and he gets around. Kei knows because Tetsurou babbles. He’s not ashamed, at least not to Kei. He knows and yet an irrational part in him can’t help but hate every single person Tetsurou has ever been intimate with. He knows it’s stupid. It’s not like he himself don’t go fooling around with other people and yet—and yet.

Kei is not the jealous type, really, he isn’t. But he’s jealous of everyone who can be with Tetsurou all the time while he’s all the way in Miyagi and only ever gets his weekends.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

V.

“So, I heard from a very reliable source that you aren’t sleeping well.”

“Reliable source,” Kei scoffs. “You can say it’s my mom, Kuroo-san. I know you two gossip.”

“Uh, excuse you. I prefer the term chatting. Your mother and I have lovely chats that in no way involves you. The world doesn’t revolve around you, Tsukki. God.” Tetsurou says dramatically beside him as they continue to walk down the busy Tokyo streets. “And it’s not like you and ma don’t talk. Don’t think I don’t know where you got the idea what to give me for my last birthday.”

“Now, now, the world doesn’t revolve around you, Kuroo-san. God.” Kei smirks, chuckling when Tetsurou nudges him for the quip. “It was just a lucky guess,” He shrugs, burying his hands in his pockets deeper. “Or it could be just because I’m really good at gifts or maybe you’re just too predictable.” He stops by the door of a fast-food joint and opens the door for Tetsurou, letting him enter first before following suit.

“No, you definitely had some help,” Tetsurou says before turning to the cashier. “Yeah, hi, can I get a B1 with a side of fries and large orange juice. Tsukki?”

“I’ll have a B3 with onion rings and a large coke.”

Tetsurou pays before Kei could even open his wallet, as he always does whenever Kei comes to visit. Kei clucks his tongue as Tetsurou smirks at him. Since Kei has been coming down to Tokyo more he feels like he should start paying for his own meals occasionally. But Tetsurou won’t have it, reasoning that the train fares are expensive. Treating Kei to meals is the least he could do. It always ends with a longwinded discussion so now they’ve taken to just racing at whoever could settle the bill faster.

“Anyway, you didn’t answer my question,” Kuroo says reaching for an onion ring even when Kei glares at him and swats at his hands. “Why aren’t you sleeping well?”

Kei shrugs, thoroughly chewing his burger before swallowing it and snatching a fry off of Tetsurou. “Just a lot of stuff going on. Finals, tournaments, and there are the college applications too. It’s fine. I’m fine. Just stressed.”

“You know you could ask for help right? Just because you’re captain doesn’t mean you have to do all the work.”

“Oh, I know. I made Hinata train the first years and Kageyama’s in charge of the second years. Yamaguchi overseas serving practice while I do the blocking practices. Yachi takes care of everything else and she’s training a new manager. We all monitor the practice matches.” Kei pushes his remaining onion rings to Tetsurou. “I know how to delegate, Kuroo-san. And finals are tough but I can’t exactly do worse than Hinata or Kageyama.”

“And what about college apps?” Tetsurou asks voice soft as he nibbles on the onion rings. He sounds unsure and he’s not looking at Kei. “You found a college you like already?”

Kei leans on his head on his hand as he sips the last of his coke. He didn’t miss the way Tetsurou asked the questions. College applications have always been a bit of a sensitive topic between them. Kei suspects Tetsurou probably wants him to get in the same school as him, or at least somewhere near, but he doesn’t want to impose. Kei thinks he’s an idiot.

“They’re going fine. I’ve sent them out and went on a couple of tours.”

He didn’t. He only ever considered one university and only sent his application there. Maybe it’s a little cocky of him but he’s not worrying too much about whether or not he’d get in. Not when he’s being offered both an academic and a sports scholarship.

“As for the school, I’ll decide once I know which ones I got accepted. Like I said, I’m fine and you don’t have to worry about me. I’ll sleep normally again after finals.”

They got up and threw their trash. This time, it’s Tetsurou that held the door for Kei as they exited.

“Well, tell me which schools you get in to and which one you’re going.”

“Of course. You’ll be one of the first to know.”

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

VI.

When Tetsurou gave him his phone number and his home dorm number on their last match, Kei didn’t know what to do with himself. He didn’t outwardly show it, of course, but he did ask Tetsurou what they were for.

“I’m going to college soon,” Tetsurou explained. “And I’m moving to a new dorm but I’ll be going home from time to time. That’s the number of the phone in the dorms and the other is the one for my house.”

“Okay, but can’t I just call you on your cellphone?” It makes more sense after all and why would Kei even call the dorm’s phone?

“Nothing wrong with having more options right?” Tetsurou just shrugs. “Also, ma took a liking to you on your last visit. She said she’d love to have a chat with you again some time but she knows you can’t always come down to visit.”

“Oh. Well,” Kei doesn’t even bother to hide his smile at that. Tetsurou’s mother is a lovely woman and makes a mean strawberry shortcake. “Please tell her I enjoy talking to her too.”

“Tell that to her yourself. You’ll come by this weekend again, right?”

“Of course.”

Kei gives Tetsurou his phone number in return, something about equal trade or it being weird that Kei’s the only one who has Tetsurou’s home phone number. He didn’t really care. Tetsurou was just glad that Kei is basically giving him permission to communicate with him more.

Sometimes Kei would come home with his mother talking to someone on the phone laughing and talking very animatedly. He doesn’t question it. Lately, his mother has taken to chatting with Tetsurou’s mother ever since the visits have become a weekly thing. He always assumes that when his mother is talking all conspiratorially on the phone, it’s just him and Tetsurou’s mother gossiping or something.

That is until he answers the phone one day and it’s Tetsurou’s voice that greets him.

“Kuroo-san? Why are you calling my house phone?”

“Oh, hey, Tsukki. May I talk to auntie please?”

“Auntie?”

And before Kei could ask, his mother is beside him plucking the phone from his hand and placing it on her ear, shooing Kei off of the stool he’s perched on.

Kei puts two and two together and realizes it’s Tetsurou his mother is talking on the phone more often than the other boy’s mother. No wonder that asshole knows things about him that Kei pretty much is sure he’s never told him before even though Tetsurou insists, every time, that he’s told him about it. That fucking scheming cat.

Tetsurou, for his part, thoroughly enjoys his chats with Kei’s mom—and sometimes, occasionally, Akiteru. He enjoys the stories from Kei’s childhood and his home life, he likes listening to the fond tone his mother uses when talking about Kei. He likes to listen and know just how much Kei is loved. He listens to her worries about his youngest son and tries to reassure her as much as he can, that he’ll always take care of Kei and that he’s always so, so loved.

And Kei, well, if he calls Tetsurou’s house when he can’t reach the boy himself just because, that’s between him and Tetsurou’s mom.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

VII.

They have the Tsukishima house all to themselves on a one weekend Tetsurou came to visit.

Akiteru is in Tokyo and Kei’s mother is visiting a relative. Naturally, they take this opportunity to be as loud as they possibly can.

“Ah!” Tetsurou shouts as Kei’s Princess Peach drops a red shell on his Mario. “You asshole!”

They’re on their eight round of Mario Kart and so far the score is 3-4 in favor of Kei.

Kei just sniggers, dodging out of the way with a laugh and a ‘hey!’ as Tetsurou nudges him and tries to distract him by flailing an arm in front of him.

“Quit it! You can try and distract me all you want but you won’t win this.” Kei says as he nudges Tetsurou right back.

“Oh, yeah? We’ll see about that.”

At Tetsurou’s tone, Kei’s hold on his controller tightens.

“You wouldn’t dare,” Kei hisses, guard up and ready to dodge because he knows Tetsurous always make do with his threats.

“Oh, won’t I?” Tetsurou replies, rising up to the challenge.

And then he smashes the buttons dramatically with his thumbs and Kei scrambles for the buttons on his own to avoid it—except Tetsurou nudges him on his side again so he fumbles for his controller.

“Fucker!” Kei roars as he watches his Princess Peach start from last. “How dare you! I welcome you into my home and you blue shell me?!”

Besides him, Tetsurou just cackles and cackles some more when his Mario inevitably wins with Kei’s Princess Peach finishing at last.

Tetsurou is a child who also brings out the child in Kei so in a burst of frustration and annoyance, Kei drops his controller and lunges at Tetsurou, prompting another bout of cackling laughter from the older boy as they wrestle across the Tsukishima’s carpeted hardwood floors. They go at it for some time until even Kei is laughing, at the ridiculousness of it all and the uncharacteristic display of poor sportsmanship, before collapsing side by side still giggling softly.

“I think I’m ready for bed.”

“Are you sure? It’s still a little early.” The worry and slight confusion are evident in Tetsurou’s tone. The clock hanging on the wall read 11:49 PM but Kei and Tetsurou don’t usually sleep until the wee hours of the morning even when they’re not visiting each other. “Is this a new sleeping pattern? Are you on a new sleeping medication?”

Kei had mentioned how he’s been recently diagnosed with mild insomnia. It’s nothing bad and he’s been prescribed regular sleeping pills but that’s it. It’s working well and he’s not groggy or too exhausted to go about his days. Still, the concern is touching.

“It’s fine. We had a long day,” Kei says as he shrugs. They trained with Karasuno the whole day before heading home to have pizza for dinner and waste away their time playing video games. He pushes himself up and says, “Besides, you have an early train to catch tomorrow.”

“Is this because I yawned earlier? I told you, I was just—“

“I didn’t even see you yawn.”

Tetsurou sends him a suspicious look and Kei sighs as he rolls his eyes good-naturedly, a small smile playing on his lips.

“Look, it’s close to midnight. I really am tired and we have to wake up early tomorrow. Can we please just drop it and go to bed?”

Tetsurou relents and raises his arms to Kei. The latter scoffs and makes a face but pulls Tetsurou up just the same.

They’ve long foregone laying an extra futon on the floor of Kei’s bedroom, probably around the fourth time Tetsurou has come for a visit, and just fit their long limbs on Kei’s twin bed. It was awkward at first but they’ve figured out how to make it work, have figured out how their limbs slot together for the comfiest sleeping position. Tetsurou always takes the side by the wall because he tends to fall off over the edge. He drapes an arm over Kei’s waist as he lies on the other side, his back snug against Tetsurou’s chest, legs tangled in between.

Kei usually takes a pill every night to help him sleep easier. Tonight, he foregoes his meds and lies down, eyes closing as soon as Tetsurou’s arm is around him.

“Kei, did you take your meds?” Tetsurou asks, always perceptive when it comes to these things.

“It’s fine,” Kei assures, Tetsurou’s warmth already lulling him to a sleepy state. “I don’t think I’ll be needing them tonight.”

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

VIII.

Weekends didn’t use to be special for Kei.

Sure, it was something to look forward to for most but they’re just ordinary days for Kei. He wakes up, goes to practice if they have something scheduled, does his homework, and laze around the house. Weekends are nothing special. Just a brief reprieve from an otherwise monotonous routine on weekdays.

Kei didn’t use to care much about weekends. That is, until Tetsurou.

Sometimes it makes Kei feel guilty whenever somebody asks about his plans for the weekend. Akiteru would be home early on a Friday from work and asks if he’d want to go somewhere tomorrow. Or his friends from Karasuno would ask if he’d want to do homework together on Sunday and maybe watch a movie and hang out after.

And lately, Kei’s answer would always be either: “Sorry. I can’t. I’m going down to Tokyo this weekend” or “Kuroo-san will be visiting. I don’t think I can hang out much.”

On the days that Tetsurou would be the one coming up to Miyagi, logically, he can maybe invite him to hang out with his other friends. After all, it’s not like they don’t all know each other, but Kei has always had a selfish streak and has never been good at sharing.

Sometimes he thinks of skipping visits to Tokyo in favor of spending more time with his friends and Akiteru, but then, he reasons, he spends time with the Karasuno bunch five days a week and Akiteru is home more often now. Meanwhile, his time with Tetsurou is always restricted to texts at random hours of the days, late phone calls and Skype video chats, and a day and a half per week—two if they’re lucky and it’s a long weekend or Kei doesn’t have morning practice on Saturdays.

Kei often thinks he lucked out in the friends department and wonders whatever it was he did in his past lives to deserve them because to date, no one has ever said anything against his constant turning down of their invitations.

(Well, there was Hinata who always calls him out on ‘never wanting to hang out outside of school’ but it’s all in jest, and anyway, he can’t really talk because he comes down to Tokyo with Kei twice a month to visit Kenma.)

Tadashi just shrugs when Kei once apologized and quietly thanks him in no certain terms, but it’s not like they ever needed much context. “You look happy,” Tadashi had said, “And that made us happy, too.”

And it’s true. Nowadays, Kei’s moods are infinitely better on the weekends.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

IX.

They share Tetsurou’s bed in his dorm.

It’s a warm Sunday afternoon and in a couple of hours, they’ll both have to get up and go to the station. Kei to catch the last train back to Miyagi with Tetsurou insisting to see him off.

Kei is lying down with his earbuds on, eyes closed but not really asleep. Tetsurou watches his relaxed face, his even breathing, admires the way the late afternoon sunlight falls on him and illuminates his profile. Not for the first time, he wishes these moments aren’t just fleeting, wishes he could always look to his side and see Kei beside him.

He shuffles closer to Kei, pulls him plush against him. Kei is pliant as he leans back against Tetsurou. He takes off an earbud and with his lips against the younger’s nape, he whispers the words he’s long wanted to say, confesses quietly in the still silence of the room.

“I don’t want you to go. I hate it when you do. I’m jealous of everyone who can be around you all the time. I want to be the one who stays beside you always.”

So maybe it’s not quite a confession, not the clear-cut words Kei wants to hear—needs to hear—to quell the uncertainty that has always plagued him when it comes to them and whether or not this, whatever this is, isn’t just one-sided and fleeting and that they might actually have a shot, but it’s close.

And at that moment, in that tiny room, their bodies too close to be considered for just friends, legs tangled in the sheets, that moment is crystallized in Kei’s mind. Tetsurou’s words, the way he said them—whispered them like a secret, like a prayer—something delicate yet heavy with its implication, Kei holds it dear in his heart.

Tetsurou peppers the back of Kei’s neck, the juncture where his neck and shoulders meet, and his shoulders with kisses. He only stops when Kei shifts to turn around, peering up at him from beneath long blonde lashes. Kei lifts his hand to cradle his face in his hands and Tetsurou’s breathe hitches. Kei never fails to knock the air out of him, always so effortlessly breathtaking.

Kei watches the play of emotions on Tetsurou’s face, lips quirking wryly at the shock of panic and fear in the older boy’s eyes. The stupid boy probably thinks he said something wrong, probably even preparing for the worst. Kei wonders when Tetsurou will realize he doesn’t have anything to be afraid of, that Kei is just as taken with him ever since that summer in Shinzen high school two years ago. He wishes he could say the words to stop them from dancing around each other and finally put them both out of their misery. But he’s never been good with words so he figures he should just show him.

He closes the gap between them in a chaste kiss, so soft and delicate as if he’s afraid he’d ruin this moment if he pushes any further. Kei moves to pepper kisses across Tetsurou’s face—his nose, his cheeks, his eyelids, his forehead—before planting another one on his lips, swallowing the relieved sigh Tetsurou lets out, and smiling against his lips.

Kei still leaves and Tetsurou still sees him off. But not without one last lingering kiss and the whispered promise of the next weekend.

This time they don’t say goodbye and this time, they part with hearts a little less heavy.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

X.

Kei wakes up in a familiar bed and familiar sheets.

It’s bigger and a little softer than his own back in Miyagi and the sheets and pillowcases are red, a little faded from being repeatedly washed over the years. He wakes up in a familiar room with a familiar scent—the distinct smell of Tetsurou’s favorite cologne, the brand of detergent and fabric softener they both prefer.

The lump under the covers beside him shifts and Kei lets himself be pulled towards it, the weight of Tetsurou’s arm around his waist and his body pressing against his a welcomed warmth.

Kei turns to face him, lifts a hand to push back Tetsurou’s long fringe away from his face, and smiles as he watches him slowly blink into consciousness.

“G’morning,” Tetsurou mumbles sleepily, a sleepy smile slowly stretching across his face even as he buries half of his face back in his pillow.

“Good morning to you, too,” Kei replies continuing carding his fingers through Tetsurou’s hair.

Tetsurou hums at the ministration. “What day is it? What time is it?”

“Today’s a Monday and it’s already 7:28. We should probably be getting up.”

“Or we could still sleep some more,” Tetsurou bargains tightening his hold on Kei’s waist even when the latter have no plans to move. “It’s not like you have a train to catch or anything.”

Kei scoffs at the glimpse of Tetsurou’s upturned lips from his quip, but he couldn’t help the smile that blooms on his own as well. He moves to tuck himself under the crook of Tetsurou’s neck, placing a soft kiss on the underside of his jaw letting the familiar scent of fresh laundry, the remnants of aftershave, and something distinctly Tetsurou lull him back to sleep.

And this time—this time, they have all the time in the world.

**Author's Note:**

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